Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Stew

Ingredients:
1kg beef stew meat, cubed (use a cheaper cut such as brisket or chuck)
5ml chilli powder (use paprika if you don't want the heat)
2.5ml garlic powder
1-2ml celery seed
2.5ml salt
2.5ml black pepper
60ml flour
1 clove minced garlic
5ml Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
1 chopped celery stalk
1 chopped onion
4 sliced carrots
4 diced potatoes
250ml (1 cup) beef stock
125ml (1/2 cup) BBQ sauce

Instructions:
Set the crock pot on low. In a bowl, mix together the chilli, garlic powder, celery seed, salt, pepper and flour. Add the cubed beef and coat it in this mixture. Once the beef is entirely covered, empty the entire bowl into the crock pot. Add in the rest of the ingredients, except the potatoes. Cover and cook on either low for 8 hours or high for 6 hours. Two hours before the stew is ready, add the chopped potatoes.

Serve with rice, noodles, or putu (for our American friends, putu is a mealie meal, or corn, dish similar to grits).

Note:

This BBQ beef stew asks for 1/2 cup BBQ sauce. We used Steers, as it's one of the only BBQ sauces available here. You can use one of your choice or make your own. Here's a recipe I saw recently that looks delicious and even uses Liquid Smoke.

Spicy, Smoky BBQ Sauce

Hearty Vegetable Stew

Ingredients:
15ml sunflower oil
2 onions, sliced
7.5ml chopped garlic
250ml carrots cut into 1cm thick slices
250ml celery cut into 2cm thick slices
500g mushrooms, cut into quarters
3 medium potatoes, unpeeled, washed and cut into 2.5cm chunks
1 x 410g can chopped tomatoes, undrained
1 x 400g can red kidney beans, drained
200ml canned tomato purée
250ml water
5ml dried thyme
1 bay leaf
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
 45ml flour
60ml water
60ml red wine

Method:
Heat the oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, celery and mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, if necessary, adding small amounts of water to prevent sticking.

Add the remaining ingredients, except the flour, water and wine. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Stir occasionally while cooking.

In a small bowl, stir the water into the flour, adding the water gradually until a smooth paste is formed. Add to the stew, along with the wine, stirring well into the vegetable mix. Cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring gently. Remove and discard the bay leaf before serving.

Belgian Chicken Stew

Belgian Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

4 skinless chicken breasts

500ml boiling water

1 chicken stock cube

600g small new potatoes

65g butter

30ml water

2 large carrots, peeled and grated

2 large leeks, trimmed and shredded

40g flour

100ml double cream

Parsley, chopped to garnish

Method:

Poach the chicken breasts for 15 minutes in a large covered pan, with 500ml boiling water and the stock cube. Turn the chicken breasts over halfway through cooking. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in a separate pan for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain and keep warm.

Melt 25g butter in a saucepan, add the carrots and leeks, plus 30ml water, cover and cook gently for 5 minutes.

Transfer the chicken breasts to a plate, cover and keep warm. Decant the stock into a jug. Melt 40g butter in the same pan you have cooked the chicken in and stir in the flour. Gradually add the stock, stirring until smooth, followed by the cream. Simmer for 3 minutes.

To serve, divide the vegetables between 4 serving plates or bowls, and place a chicken breast on top. Pour the sauce over the chicken and veg and garnish with chopped parsley.

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Smoky Chicken Hotpot

Smoky Chicken Hotpot

Ingredients:

2 skinless chicken breasts, chopped

4 rashers rindless streaky bacon, each cut into 3 pieces

15ml olive oil

100g chorizo sausage, sliced into thick rings

1 onion, peeled and sliced

1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into strips

400g tin chopped tomatoes

300ml hot chicken stock

15ml dark brown sugar

410g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained

60ml fresh chopped parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Heat a flameproof casserole dish, add the bacon and dry-fry for a few minutes. When the bacon begins to sizzle, add the oil, chicken and chorizo. Cook, stirring occasionaly, until the chicken is sealed and the pimento oil is drawn from the chorizo.

Add the onion and red pepper, put the lid on the pan and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, stock, sugar, chickpeas and half of the parsley. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, then take the lid off and simmer for another 15-20 minutes to let the sauce thicken. Season to taste.

Serve immediately, sprinled with the rest of the parsley.

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Lamb Shanks in Dark Ale

My family absolutely love lamb shanks. When you cook them until they're just falling apart, they develop the most amazing flavours. This recipe is all about investing in dark sticky sauce and tender meat. In the UK we're spoiled for choice when it comes to interesting ales, and adding a good dark ale to the onions creates the most brilliant depth of flavour. Whatever you do, do NOT skip the mint oil or spring onions. It's like flipping a light switch - just that simple little touch makes the whole dish sing.

Ingredients:

3 red onions, peeled
olive oil
sea salt and ground pepper
2 handfuls of raisins
100ml thick-cut marmalade
30ml tomato ketchup
50ml Worcestershire sauce, plus extra for serving
200ml smooth dark ale
6 lamb shanks, roughly 350g each
8 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 litre chicken stock

To serve:

a small bunch of fresh mint leaves
a few tablespoons olive oil
2 spring onions, trimmed
cider vinegar

Method:

Finely chop the onions and put them into a really large casserole-type pan (roughly 26cm in diameter and 12cm deep), with a good splash of olive oil and a reasonable pinch of salt and pepper. Cook over a medium to high heat, stirring as you go, until the onions start to caramelize. Add the raisins and marmalade, then add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and dark ale. Give it all a good stir, then leave to gently simmer.

Put the lamb shanks into a large frying pan (roughly 30cm wide) on a medium to high heat with a drizzle of olive oil – you can cook them in batches if needed. Turn them every few minutes; once they have some good colour, pick in the rosemary leaves and move them around in the pan to get crispy, but don’t let them burn. Use tongs to move the shanks into the pan of onions, then pour in all their juices and the crispy rosemary. Add the stock, put the lid on, turn down the heat and leave to blip away slowly for around 3 hours, or until the meat falls off the bone easily. Try to turn the shanks halfway through so they cook evenly.

When the lamb shanks are ready, carefully move them to a platter, making sure the meat stays intact. Whiz or liquidize the gravy with a stick blender until smooth, then allow to reduce and thicken. Pound most of the mint leaves in a pestle and mortar with a good pinch of salt and the olive oil, then take to the table. Finely slice up the spring onions and toss on a plate with the remaining fresh mint leaves, a drizzle of cider vinegar and a pinch of salt.

Gently, so they don’t fall apart, transfer the shanks to a serving platter. Add a little splash of cider vinegar and a few more splashes of Worcestershire sauce to the remaining gravy in the casserole, then ladle it all over the lamb shank and pour the rest into a jug for people to help themselves. Scatter the vinegary spring onions and a few fresh mint leaves all over the top, drizzle the mint oil all around the shanks. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice.

Lamb in Asparagus Cream

Thanks to the Romans' penchant for asparagus, we have this delectable seasonal vegetable in Britain. It has always been a luxury affordable to the rich, but with today's extensive farming of this crop, it is available to almost everyone, even if it's only once in a while. After all, it is only available for two months of the year, so as they say, "make hay while the sun shines"; spoil yourself and graze some 'sparrow grass'.

I've been looking for all the ideas I can get for using this amazing little veg and was amazed to find this classic recipe in one of my old cookbooks. Who would have thought to put creamed asparagus in a stew?! The original recipe comes from the Argenteuil region of France, just north-west of Paris, where asparagus is grown, but the tender early British asparagus gives just as good a flavour to this succulent lamb stew.

Ingredients:
1kg asparagus
1 kg boned shoulder of lamb
4 small onions
30g butter
30ml flour
5ml steak and chop seasoning
125ml double cream
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
juice of half a lemon

Method:
Wash the asparagus, but do not trim. Cook in a large pan of lightly salted water for about 10 minutes, or until tender. Drain well and set the cooking liquid aside. Cut of the tips about 3 inches down the spears and set aside. Put the rest of the spears in a liquidiser or blender and puree. Pass the puree through a sieve and discard any course and stringy bits.

Cut the lamb into 1-2 inch cubes. Toss in seasoned flour to coat evenly. Peel and roughly chop the onions.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and brown the meat. Once the meat is seared on all sides add the onions and cook together until the onions are browned. Gradually blend in about 250ml asparagus cooking liquid, stirring continuously until the sauce is smooth and creamy.

Simmer for about an hour until the meat is tender, stirring occasionally. If the liquid evaporates too much, cover the saucepan with a lid.

When the meat is cooked and tender, stir the asparagus puree and cream into the sauce. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the lemon juice. The sauce should be fairly thick.

Arrange the asparagus tips around the edge of a warm serving dish and spoon the meet and sauce into the middle. Serve with boiled baby potatoes in their jackets with a parsley butter sauce.

Oriental Oxtail

Warm spices, soy sauce and a hint of orange add fragrance and flavour to slow-cooked oxtail.

Ingredients:

2-2.5 kg oxtail pieces

50ml flour

5ml “Steak and Chop Seasoning”

500ml tomato juice

500ml beef stock, or 2 beef stock cubes and 500ml boiling water

15ml muscovardo sugar

30ml white wine vinegar

80-90ml soy sauce

4 whole star anise

4 dried chillies

3-4 inches of ginger, thinly sliced

Zest and juice of 1 orange

1 head of garlic, cloves peeled, trimmed and halved

3-4 sprigs of Thai Basil, roughly chopped

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220C. Season the oxtails by shaking with flour and seasoning in a plastic bag to coat all the pieces. Place in a single layer in a lidded casserole dish, making sure all the pieces are separate from one another. Roast for 30 minutes until well browned.

In a mixing bowl, combine the tomato juice, stock, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce with 500ml water. Scatter in the star anise, chillies, sliced ginger, garlic cloves and orange juice and zest. Pour the spiced liquid over the browned meat.

Cover with a cartouche of baking paper to stop any exposed meat from drying out. Top with the casserole lid. Turn the oven temperature down to 180C and cook for 2½ hours. Check the meat from time to time, turning the pieces over to ensure even cooking. When the meat is beginning to look tender, add the chopped basil and stir through the sauce. If the sauce is a little thick, add a dash more boiling water until a suitable consistency is achieved. Check the seasoning and add further sea salt and freshly ground black pepper if required. Return to the oven and cook for a further 10-15 minutes to complete the cooking and blend the flavours of the basil and adjusted sauce. The oxtail is ready when the meat is very tender and coming away from the bones.

Beef and Bean Cobbler

I love making cobbler as it's an all in one dish and so easy to prepare.

There might be lots of chopping, but once that is done,

it all comes together so quickly.

The name comes from the topping,

which looks like a cobbled street when cooked.

As this is a winter warmer

and herbs are not as easily obtainable in the winter months,

I make a sneaky substitution for herbs by using pesto.

Even though pesto also contains nuts and cheese,

it just adds extra flavour to the dish.

The pesto I use for this dish is a basil and pinenut green pesto,

but you could use a coriander pesto or my red pepper pesto previously shared.

The slow cooking is so necessary for this dish as it breaks the vegetables down to the most amazing sauce.

Give it a try.

Ingredients:
For the Stew:
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
1/2 a leek, sliced. (use the middle of the leek with white and green for great flavour)
1 large parsnip, cut in small cubes.
1 large carrot, cut into cubes or thin slices
2 inches root ginger, grated
30ml green basil pesto 500ml stewing beef, cut into 1 inch cubes

50ml flour
10ml steak and chop seasoning
5ml paprika
2 large potatoes, cut into 8ths
1 tin cannellini beans
500ml beef stock
30ml soy sauce

For the Cobbler:
1 cup flour
10ml baking powder
30g butter
1 egg
50g Lancashire cheese, crumbled
50-60 ml milk
pinch of salt

Method:
Preheat the oven to 150C

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In a large frying pan over a low heat, sweat the onions, garlic, celery and leek for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are translucent, but not coloured. Add the parsnips, carrots, ginger and pest and stew gently for another five minutes.

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Put the flour, seasoning and paprika into a plastic bag, shake up to mix and add the beef cubes. Shake up to coat the beef cubes well. In a large ovenproof saucepan, brown the beef over a medium to high heat until all the meat is sealed. Add the sweated vegetables, potatoes, drained beans, stock and soy sauce and mix well. Cover and bring to the boil.

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Transfer to the oven with a lid on the pan and cook for 2-3 hours until the meat is tender and the vegetable mixture is well broken down to a rich gravy. If it has become a bit dry, you can add a little water at this stage to reconstitute the gravy.

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Remove from the oven and prepare the topping. Turn the oven up to 180C.

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When the meat is ready, make the topping. Put the flour, baking powder, butter, egg, cheese and salt in a blender and pulse to a dough, adding enough milk to make the dough pliable, not too stiff or too sticky. Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut out rounds with a scone cutter. Place these rounds on the top of the stew in the saucepan, one in the middle and the others around the edge, until the meat is covered. There may be gaps between the rounds - that's alright as the dough will swell on cooking. Return to the oven and cook for another 20-30 minutes until the topping is puffed up and browned on top.

Aromatic Lamb-Shanks

Lamb-shanks used to be thought of as stringy

with gristle and sticky with glue,

but cooked this way they are anything but.

You could also use lamb shoulder cut into cubes,

but the bone in the shank gives a rounded flavour and richness

that just can’t be beaten.

Since lamb shanks are not only readily available these days,

and they are also meaty and relatively cheap,

it makes sense to use them for this sumptuous dish.

As with all aromatic stews,

this is even better when made in advance and reheated.

Ingredients:

100ml vegetable oil

8 lamb shanks

2 onions

4 garlic cloves

Pinch of salt

15ml turmeric

1 inch fresh root ginger, grated

2ml dried chilli flakes

10ml ground cinnamon

1ml grated nutmeg

Freshly ground black pepper

50ml honey

15ml soy sauce

50ml Sherry

100ml red lentils

50ml chopped blanched almonds to garnish

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Method:

Put 50ml of the oil into a very large, wide, heavy-bottomed pan and warm over medium heat. Brown the lamb shanks, in batches, in the pan and then remove to a roasting tin or whatever else you've got to hand to sit them in.

Peel the onions and garlic and process in a food processor or chop them finely by hand.

Add the remaining oil to the pan, and fry the onion-garlic mush until soft, sprinkling salt over to stop it catching.

Stir in the turmeric, grated ginger, chilli, cinnamon and nutmeg, and season with some freshly ground pepper.

Stir, adding the honey, soy sauce and Sherry.

Put the shanks back in the pan, add cold water almost to cover, bring to the boil then put a lid on the pan, lower the heat and simmer gently for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until the meat is tender.

Add the red lentils and cook for about 20 minutes longer without a lid, until the lentils have softened into the sauce, and the juices have reduced and thickened slightly.

Check for seasoning.

Toast the nuts by heating them for a few minutes in a dry frying pan, and sprinkle onto the lamb as you serve it.

Serve with a creamy mash of potato and parsnips, or with rice or couscous.

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Scrummy Yummy Tomato Sauce

This tomato sauce is a great way to use up a glut of tomatoes when in season.

It makes a great base for pasta, stew or curry.

Use as is for pasta with a touch of water added.

For a curry add the spice of your choice, such as curry powder, cardamom pods, chilli flakes and curry leaves, and stir in coconut cream for a delicious curry sauce.

For a warm winter stew you may want to add smoked paprika

or herbs such as rosemary, thyme or parsley.

Use it with lamb, chicken, fish or vegetables, cook through and serve.

Ingredients:
30ml vegetable oil 4 rosettes of star anise
15ml cumin seeds
15ml fennel seeds
1/2 vanilla pod
6-8 large tomatoes halved, or 4x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
runny honey to taste
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
2-3 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 bunch fresh basil
extra virgin olive oil

Method:
Place the oil in a heated heavy cast pan and add the anise, cumin, fennel and vanilla and heat until the seeds start to fizz.

Add the tomatoes and allow them to start cooking, then season with salt and pepper and add the honey to taste. Add the thyme and bay leaves. Break the bay leaves in a couple of pieces before putting them into the pot to help release the flavour. Cook on a medium heat for about 5-10 minutes.

Press the tomatoes gently with a potato masher to help them release their juices. As they cook down, the skins can be removed easily with a fork, or if you are lazy like me, leave them in. I like to leave them in the sauce as there is a lot of goodness in and just below the skin.

With a hand blender, whizz the sauce to a puree and, reducing the heat to a minimum for a slow simmer, continue to reduce until thickened to a paste. This may take up to 90 to 120 minutes. This slow evaporation of the moisture from the tomatoes will produce a deep colour, concentrating the flavours without bitterness.

When the moisture has been removed, add the garlic and basil. Blend into the warm paste and finish with a good amount of olive oil.

Allow to cool before storing ready for use. This will keep in the fridge for up to 21 days, but I'm sure you'll use it all up before then!